Together we can save the Arctic

The Arctic is under threat. As you read this, oil companies and politicians are plotting to carve up the icy north, extending their national territories and searching for drill sites. But with your help, we can draw a line in the ice and put the Arctic out of the polluters' reach – forever.

This morning at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, we joined forces with Paul McCartney, Penelope Cruz, Robert Redford, the world’s biggest boy band One Direction and dozens of other famous names to demand that the uninhabited area around the North Pole be protected by the UN and made off-limits to polluters.

More than 100 Hollywood actors, musicians, polar explorers and business leaders have added their names to our Arctic Scroll as a symbol of their determination to save the Arctic. Will you join them?

Right now, the uninhabited area around the North Pole belongs to all of us.

But climate change is causing the Arctic ice to melt, destroying polar bear habitats and opening up oil reserves. Instead of seeing this as a warning to humanity, the Arctic nations are getting ready to grab what's left and divide it up among themselves.

In a few weeks, Shell plans to ignite the Arctic oil rush by being the first major oil company to start drilling in the Arctic – all to feed humanity’s addiction to oil.

The irony of this is sickening.

The very companies who are causing climate change and the melting ice get to profit from it, even though they’re destroying precious habitats and endangering wildlife in the process. It’s a vicious circle.

We're not going to sit by while greedy companies and selfish politicians destroy this beautiful, fragile environment. That's why we are demanding that the uninhabited area around the North Pole be protected by the UN and calling for a ban on offshore oil drilling and unsustainable fishing in the Arctic.

But we can’t do this alone. We need to build a movement strong enough to face down the combined might of the Arctic nations, Big Oil and the industrial fishing fleets. We’ve got to show that people from all corners of the globe want the Arctic to be protected.

That’s why we need you to add your name to our Arctic Scroll to show that you’re determined to save the Arctic.

It’s more than just a petition: when 1 million people have signed it, we’ll place those names in an indestructible pod and take it to the Arctic. We’ll lower it through 4km of freezing water, planting your name on the bottom of the ocean at the top of the world. We’ll mark the spot with a Flag for the Future designed by the youth of the world.